I called recently for the Cabinet to tell Johnson that the game is up, and Dowden’s resignation is the closest that any of them have got.
Johnson’s grand bargain to hike National Insurance to fund social care doesn’t look as if it will survive a leadership contest. But what would replace it?
Small firms can’t cope with the red tape. A typical Victorian terraced house would be illegal if it was built today.
Yet the Chancellor comfortably holds on to his silver-medal spot, despite sharing in the u-turn.
“We need more homes, in the right places, at the right time, and I don’t really care who builds them or who owns them”, says Ben Everitt.
The more radical his plans are, the more resistance there will be. But one can’t serve up a municipal omelette without breaking eggs.
The Housing Secretary is grilled on whether the Chancellor and Prime Minister should not have to self-isolate.
“That means that they can conduct important government business, but they won’t be able to go out socialising”, he says.
‘If I was asked to wear a mask when catching the tram in Wolverhampton and those were the rules, I would certainly wear a mask.’
The Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary adds that “we as private citizens will make these judgments.”
Make the economic case, abolish priority need, reform the No Course to Public Funds rule, don’t end Everyone In and reform housing authorities.